tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Can Commun Dis Rep
. 2021 Nov 10;47(11):473-475.
doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v47i11a05.
The impact of vaccination status on importation of COVID-19 among international travellers
Paul Ronksley[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tayler Scory[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Robert Weaver[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Meaghan Lunney[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rachel Rodin[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marcello Tonelli[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Governments worldwide are looking for ways to safely enable international travel while mitigating the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, few data describe the impact of vaccination on importation of COVID-19. We took advantage of the sequential introduction of two government policies in Canada to evaluate the real-world evidence of vaccine effectiveness among 30,361 international travellers arriving by air in Alberta, Canada. The proportion of COVID-19-positive results for travellers who were either fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated was 0.02% (95% CI: 0.00-0.10) (i.e. one positive case among 5,817 travellers). In contrast, 1.42% (95% CI: 1.27-1.58) of unvaccinated travellers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (341 cases among 24,034 travellers). These findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations approved in Canada, substantially reduced the risk of travel-related importation of COVID-19 when combined with other public health measures. The low absolute rate of infection among fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated international travellers may inform quarantine requirements in this population.
Keywords: COVID-19; case importation; international travel; vaccination.
. 2021 Nov 10;47(11):473-475.
doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v47i11a05.
The impact of vaccination status on importation of COVID-19 among international travellers
Paul Ronksley[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tayler Scory[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Robert Weaver[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Meaghan Lunney[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rachel Rodin[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marcello Tonelli[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34880709
- PMCID: PMC8601101
- DOI: 10.14745/ccdr.v47i11a05
Abstract
Governments worldwide are looking for ways to safely enable international travel while mitigating the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, few data describe the impact of vaccination on importation of COVID-19. We took advantage of the sequential introduction of two government policies in Canada to evaluate the real-world evidence of vaccine effectiveness among 30,361 international travellers arriving by air in Alberta, Canada. The proportion of COVID-19-positive results for travellers who were either fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated was 0.02% (95% CI: 0.00-0.10) (i.e. one positive case among 5,817 travellers). In contrast, 1.42% (95% CI: 1.27-1.58) of unvaccinated travellers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (341 cases among 24,034 travellers). These findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccinations approved in Canada, substantially reduced the risk of travel-related importation of COVID-19 when combined with other public health measures. The low absolute rate of infection among fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated international travellers may inform quarantine requirements in this population.
Keywords: COVID-19; case importation; international travel; vaccination.